Things are heating up at a Williamsburg rental building, where tenants say a handful of fires have plagued the building’s conversion into luxury condos.
Tenants told Curbed that four fires occurred at 184 Kent Avenue between May 27 and June 29. The cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but some of the tenants told the website that the developers have caused the fires to force them out of the building. This claim hasn’t been substantiated, and the developers told tenants that they suspect a former tenant is the arsonist, according to Curbed.
In addition to the fires, the renovations on the building are dragging, and tenants said that only the lobby has been completed.
In April, Kushner Companies [TRData], along with Asher Abehsera’s LIVWRK and the Rockpoint Group, paid $275 million for the eight-story property, according to property records. The developers plan to convert the building’s 338 residential units into the same number of condos with a total projected sellout of $414 million. The developers have offered to let tenants buy their units, though many have left the building. A minimum of 51 units need to be in contract for the New York State Attorney General to declare the condo plan effective.
The building is known as the former Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, where the wholesale grocer distributed Wild Turkey. [Curbed] — Kathryn Brenzel